Can anyone advise me on buying a coaster rv. Are they ok, should do anything to it to improve performance etc.
I'm looking at a 1996 shower toilet 35k.
I'll be going solo on a single pension.
What do you think.
shero (a new comer)
jules47 said
04:21 AM Aug 27, 2013
Welcome to the site Peter - hope you enjoy it - quite a few on here have Coasters - use the "search" at the top of the screen - sure to find some help there.
shero said
04:44 AM Aug 27, 2013
thanks J ules guess i find my way around after awhile. thanks again shero
shero said
04:54 AM Aug 27, 2013
Another thing it has 400000ks on the clock. I;ve heard that they run for ever. true or false. shero
The Doo crew said
05:55 AM Aug 27, 2013
On our second Coaster, still haven't sold the first one, looks like the kids are going to adopt it. 400k is getting up there, best get a professional check to be sure, in saying that we put 250 000 on our first one with only a split fuel filter letting us down near Broome.
Dougwe said
03:36 PM Aug 27, 2013
Welcome shero, enjoy here and out in the playground.
Being a fleet manager in my previous life and having 8 Coasters in a very large fleet I can say yes they are good and reliable but like most things they can go wrong.
Check out 'Yeoeleven' in the Solo section of this forum as he earlier this year went through the process of setting up a Coaster and is now enjoying his hard work.
What ever you do and decide on, enjoy and,
jules47 said
04:33 PM Aug 27, 2013
Good thinking Dougwe - now why didn't I think of that??????!
billeeeeeee said
05:34 PM Aug 27, 2013
jules47 wrote:
Good thinking Dougwe - now why didn't I think of that??????!
Being a woman , would be one thing....................Billeeeeeeede
Peter,
Is it an auto or manual, is it a Turbo Diesel or just straight diesel?
Sheba said
07:10 PM Aug 27, 2013
billeeeeeee wrote:
jules47 wrote:
Good thinking Dougwe - now why didn't I think of that??????!
Being a woman , would be one thing....................Billeeeeeeede
Can't let you get away with that Billeeeeeee. I'd already PM'd Peter last night, to get in touch with John.
Cheers,
Sheba,
-- Edited by Sheba on Tuesday 27th of August 2013 07:25:46 PM
Happywanderer said
07:20 PM Aug 27, 2013
Now I thought of that Jules. Welcome Shero. When you can find yeoelevens threads and blog you will read a real success story
He bought and did a great job of getting it exactly how he wanted it.
Have seen some really good ones around, if I had the money would buy one myself.
wendyv said
09:57 PM Aug 27, 2013
Is that 400,000 on its first engine? If so, it is getting up - so have it checked thoroughly. Prior history could be important too - presume it was a bus before conversion? If so was that in metro or country area (affects things likes brakes, clutch wear). Does it have a continuous service history?
What type of engine does it have - ours has the HZ engine (same as Troopy). I believe they are good engines to have.
When we bought ours, I had quite a list of desirable features - not all of which we got - but 2 important things, because they affect resale value, were that it has a shower and toilet, and the conversion was a professional company one.
We wanted a Coaster because of having worked in remote areas up north and seen the types of roads they handle - tough as. Also, because of being such a widely used vehicle, mechanics tend to know them.
Duh said
11:06 PM Aug 27, 2013
Happywanderer wrote:
When you can find yeoelevens threads and blog you will read a real success story He bought and did a great job of getting it exactly how he wanted it.
Yeo mostly posts on Solo's Shero, send him a pm or make a post there, he doesn't always visit the other sections.
His blog is always shown under his signature on posts, see;
And I pm'd him before Sheba to do so......sheesh, Yeo's a popular man!!
VKPORTABLE said
05:45 AM Aug 28, 2013
Rust.... and more rust.
They do run forever in as much as the term dictates. They will plug along all day in searing heat and still keep going. So mechanically they are pretty reliable.
Although most of the coasters all suffer the same fate (I did say most), where they tend to have a fetish for rusting along the gutter lines and window sills. Once the rust starts it's a reasonably quick progression from there on in, if you attack it (properly) when it first pokes it's head out then you probably will do ok, leave it at your own peril they can end up been in a miserable state very fast - oh and they don't take to well to Salt air, this seems to enhance the rusting properties immensely.
billeeeeeee said
03:28 PM Aug 28, 2013
Greetings Nutters, !!now about Coasters, ive herd that yellow coasters rust quicker than most ,,, RE see Marj,,,,, stay excited , Greetings Sheba,hope to catch up next time we are in Paradise, ( QLD).........Billeeeeee
We have an old coaster only a diesel without the turbo.. so she goes slow and does not like hills much, but she keeps on going and will actually get up a hill eventually.. I'd pick one with a turbo if you want the extra power, hubby keeps on top of the rust every time we stop but then again she had some when we got her so when we get home we're going to give her the once over before we go again. I like the fact that we can park in normal car parking spaces when we need to shop and if we are going too slow for other peoples we can easily pull over to let them by (which we do often)... we did not have a lot of $$ and coasters can be pretty cheap to buy ours cost us 10,000 and we put in what we needed (solar etc).... so far she's been on the road for 1.5yrs and we've only really had to replace the water pump.. they are pretty hard to kill and the parts are readily available around Oz (another reason we picked a coaster)...
VKPORTABLE said
12:47 PM Aug 29, 2013
billeeeeeee wrote:
Greetings Nutters, !!now about Coasters, ive herd that yellow coasters rust quicker than most
Hrmm you might be onto something there. Mine was originally that tacky horrible mustard yellow type colour oh so popular back in days gone by. It has obviously had a few coats of paint over time, it was white when I brought it, but under that is green and the mustard gas.
Amanda is right - they are pretty damn hard to kill and will just keep going. And yep, they have a severe dislike for hills, even long drawn out minor ascents can see you knocking back through the gears.
yeoeleven said
04:03 PM Aug 29, 2013
I bought mine very cheaply without rego or roadworthy certificate, didn't know much about compliance certificates and sure enough it needed one to get the GVM down under 4500 so that it could be driven with a C class license and have it registered as a motor home.
I had quite an experience getting the 1980 4cyl petrol coaster registered but in the end it has taken me from Frankston Vic to Babinda N. Qld without a problem. As has been stated it is a slow ride but then where am I going in a hurry, my schedule is in months not days and certainly not hours.
The above is a link to pictures of the coaster from the eBay advert, it has no shower and toilet built in but neither does it have any rust. At the end of the day it is all about dollars and I put a $3000 non refundable deposit down and saved up the $3500 balance whilst touring Tasmania for 3 months.
I am very happy with the coaster and the help I received in Frankston, we did more than get it registered it was overhauled thoroughly and I was able to strip the Hi Ace and set the coaster up for free camping by using the previously acquired gear.
If I can get a good coaster with only a small deposit whilst living on a pension then others with more funds should with care and diligence do even better. John
Radar said
10:29 PM Aug 29, 2013
Yeoeleven hi
I have just this moment finished and I guess I read it again as time goes on your blogspot. From a very early age all I ever wanted to do was drive an old bus around Australia, Family, owning business kept me away from that dream saying that I have manage some wonderful times camping, touring and of late overseas travel.
After reading your blog I think possibly the caravan days maybe numbered, I have 5 weeks of planned travel coming up, towards the end of the year catching up with Brothers and Sisters, inlaws, outlaws, overseas travel, after we return about July next year I think I will give the rvsales site a good work out.
Once again thank you Yeoeleven very thought provoking.
Hi every one.
Can anyone advise me on buying a coaster rv. Are they ok, should do anything to it to improve performance etc.
I'm looking at a 1996 shower toilet 35k.
I'll be going solo on a single pension.
What do you think.
shero (a new comer)
Another thing it has 400000ks on the clock. I;ve heard that they run for ever. true or false. shero
Being a fleet manager in my previous life and having 8 Coasters in a very large fleet I can say yes they are good and reliable but like most things they can go wrong.
Check out 'Yeoeleven' in the Solo section of this forum as he earlier this year went through the process of setting up a Coaster and is now enjoying his hard work.
What ever you do and decide on, enjoy and,
Being a woman , would be one thing....................Billeeeeeeede
Is it an auto or manual, is it a Turbo Diesel or just straight diesel?
-- Edited by Sheba on Tuesday 27th of August 2013 07:25:46 PM
He bought and did a great job of getting it exactly how he wanted it.
Have seen some really good ones around, if I had the money would buy one myself.
What type of engine does it have - ours has the HZ engine (same as Troopy). I believe they are good engines to have.
When we bought ours, I had quite a list of desirable features - not all of which we got - but 2 important things, because they affect resale value, were that it has a shower and toilet, and the conversion was a professional company one.
We wanted a Coaster because of having worked in remote areas up north and seen the types of roads they handle - tough as. Also, because of being such a widely used vehicle, mechanics tend to know them.
Yeo mostly posts on Solo's Shero, send him a pm or make a post there, he doesn't always visit the other sections.
His blog is always shown under his signature on posts, see;
http://yeoeleven.blogspot.com.au/?view=flipcard
(Click on the pics').
And I pm'd him before Sheba to do so......sheesh, Yeo's a popular man!!
Rust.... and more rust.
They do run forever in as much as the term dictates. They will plug along all day in searing heat and still keep going.
So mechanically they are pretty reliable.
Although most of the coasters all suffer the same fate (I did say most), where they tend to have a fetish for rusting along the gutter lines and window sills.
Once the rust starts it's a reasonably quick progression from there on in, if you attack it (properly) when it first pokes it's head out then you probably will do ok, leave it at your own peril they can end up been in a miserable state very fast - oh and they don't take to well to Salt air, this seems to enhance the rusting properties immensely.
Greetings Nutters, !!now about Coasters, ive herd that yellow coasters rust quicker than most ,,, RE see Marj,,,,, stay excited , Greetings Sheba,hope to catch up next time we are in Paradise, ( QLD).........Billeeeeee
Hrmm you might be onto something there. Mine was originally that tacky horrible mustard yellow type colour oh so popular back in days gone by.
It has obviously had a few coats of paint over time, it was white when I brought it, but under that is green and the mustard gas.
Amanda is right - they are pretty damn hard to kill and will just keep going.
And yep, they have a severe dislike for hills, even long drawn out minor ascents can see you knocking back through the gears.
I bought mine very cheaply without rego or roadworthy certificate, didn't know much about compliance certificates and sure enough it needed one to get the GVM down under 4500 so that it could be driven with a C class license and have it registered as a motor home.
I had quite an experience getting the 1980 4cyl petrol coaster registered but in the end it has taken me from Frankston Vic to Babinda N. Qld without a problem. As has been stated it is a slow ride but then where am I going in a hurry, my schedule is in months not days and certainly not hours.
http://yeoeleven.blogspot.com.au/2012/12/update-to-my-new-12-month-plan.html
The above is a link to pictures of the coaster from the eBay advert, it has no shower and toilet built in but neither does it have any rust. At the end of the day it is all about dollars and I put a $3000 non refundable deposit down and saved up the $3500 balance whilst touring Tasmania for 3 months.
I am very happy with the coaster and the help I received in Frankston, we did more than get it registered it was overhauled thoroughly and I was able to strip the Hi Ace and set the coaster up for free camping by using the previously acquired gear.
If I can get a good coaster with only a small deposit whilst living on a pension then others with more funds should with care and diligence do even better. John
Yeoeleven hi
I have just this moment finished and I guess I read it again as time goes on your blogspot. From a very early age all I ever wanted to do was drive an old bus around Australia, Family, owning business kept me away from that dream saying that I have manage some wonderful times camping, touring and of late overseas travel.
After reading your blog I think possibly the caravan days maybe numbered, I have 5 weeks of planned travel coming up, towards the end of the year catching up with Brothers and Sisters, inlaws, outlaws, overseas travel, after we return about July next year I think I will give the rvsales site a good work out.
Once again thank you Yeoeleven very thought provoking.